Coinbase

Coinbase is the crypto exchange people use when they want to buy, sell, and hold digital assets through a mainstream U.S. platform. By our assessment, its big advantage is familiarity: it makes the awkward parts of crypto feel more like a normal brokerage account, with a clear app, wallet support, and a very public brand. The downside is also obvious, because a regulated exchange cannot remove the volatility, fees, or confusion that come with the asset class itself. In practice it is a place for opening an account, moving money in, trading coins, and then watching the market do what it does. It sits above the tiny amateur exchanges and below the pure self-custody route in convenience, which is why it has such a broad retail following. The Astrina catalogue records it as US, and the company's public image is firmly tied to the American market.